Benvenuto Cellini

Aidan O'Brien's operation at Cashel in County Tipperary has sent out 144 winners already this season — a number that belongs to a factory, not a stable — and yet Benvenuto Cellini has carved out his own identity within it. He broke his duck at Killarney in July 2025, then really announced himself with a five-length win in a Group 2 at Leopardstown, one of the top races in Ireland. Five lengths is not a winning margin, it is a statement. His trainer described him as looking like "a lovely mid-distance horse" with the profile of a Derby Trial horse, and jockey Christophe Soumillon — who knows a good horse when he sits on one — went further, saying he felt like a French Derby horse.

The one blemish on his record came at Doncaster, where he finished third on heavy, muddy ground. O'Brien was relaxed about it, noting that Soumillon felt the horse got stuck in the going and was being minded in the final furlong. When a trainer shrugs off a defeat and points to the horse's action, it usually means they expect conditions like that to be rare and the performance to be forgotten quickly. The form since has backed that up entirely: he has won three of his last five races, with his most recent victory coming at Chester just this week.

Chester is a tight, turning track that demands balance and athleticism — not every talented horse handles it. That Benvenuto Cellini won there tells you something about the way he moves, which is a thread that runs through everything his trainer says about him. O'Brien has floated the Epsom Derby as a genuine possibility, describing him as "an Epsom horse" who is a great mover and should be suited by that famously unusual, undulating course. The Leopardstown Derby Trial and races at York or Lingfield are also on the table, with the decision resting on how he comes out of Sunday's work.

A horse who wins 3 in every 5 races, handles Chester, destroyed a Group 2 field by five lengths, and has his trainer talking about Epsom in the same breath — there is plenty here to get excited about.